Pipe Organ
Epiphany possesses a fine 1968 Æolian-Skinner pipe organ with more recent additions. It is a four-manual, six-division instrument (plus an antiphonal state trumpet) of 62 stops, 64 ranks and 3467 pipes. The clarity and directness of speech of the organ makes it a favorite among Washington organists. A new Solo division, by the E. M. Skinner Organ Company of East Kingston, New Hampshire, and an antiphonal State Trumpet were installed in 1982. Today’s magnificent instrument comprises 64 ranks and 3,467 pipes. In 2011-2012, the organ is receiving its first major renovation since its installation, by the DiGennaro-Hart Organ Company of Bethesda, Maryland. The organ is in the care of the Emery Brothers Organ Company of Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
Please read below for more information about the current organ, including a full specification; earlier organs, and some of Epiphany’s organists.
Epiphany’s Organs and Organists
Since Epiphany’s founding, the church has had five organs. The first, an Erben, was installed in 1846, two years after the building was initially completed. A budget item of the day was $30 a year for boys to pump the organ bellows. Coinciding closely with renovations of the church, the next organ, made by E. & G.G. Hook, was installed in 1859. The third organ, a Roosevelt, was placed in the rear balcony in 1874. It was rebuilt and moved to the chancel in the early 1890s and then replaced by an Ernest M. Skinner Organ Co. instrument in 1911. Pipes from the Roosevelt and the Skinner instruments were incorporated into our current organ (a common practice in organ building).
The fifth–and present-–organ, is Opus 1485, one of the last instruments of the Æolian-Skinner Organ Company of Boston, Massachusetts. It was designed by Phillip Steinhaus and was completed in early 1968. It was given in memory of Adolf Torovsky, Organist and Choirmaster from 1919 to 1967, and in memory of many other parishioners and music-lovers. The Æolian-Skinner Organ Company of Boston operated for almost forty years and produced organs for many prestigious institutions—Harvard’s Memorial Chapel (Opus 886), Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music (Opus 958), Washington National Cathedral (Opus 883) and the Kennedy Center (Opus 1472) to name a few. The business was formed in 1932 with the merger of the Æolian Organ Company of Westfield, New Jersey, and the Ernest M. Skinner Organ Company of Boston. Epiphany’s organ, installed in 1968, came towards the end of the history of the company, which finally closed in 1971.
Garnell Copeland, assisting musician since 1966, played the dedicatory recital on 3 March 1968, and became Organist and Choirmaster until his untimely death on Epiphany evening 1977. The several additions to the organ since 1968 have included the Trompette en Chamade (1978) given in memory of Mr. Copeland.
Charles Callahan succeeded Garnell Copeland in 1977 and presided over many of the subsequent additions and improvements to the instrument, including the Solo division and solid state equipment. The organ was tonally refinished by John Hendricksen and the late Roy Perry in 1978. Mr. Hendricksen also voiced the beautiful Silver Flute and Silver Flute Celeste in the Solo division–the most ethereal voices in the organ.
The Solo division was installed in 1982 by the E. M. Skinner Organ Company of East Kingston, New Hampshire, and was tonally regulated by John H. Steinkampf, Jr., of Yonkers, New York. Mr. Steinkampf also installed the State Trumpet in the rear gallery.
In the spring of 1982, a number of improvements and modifications were made to the organ console by Solid State Logic, Ltd., of Stonesfield, Oxford, England. When the organ was originally installed in 1968, the number of mechanical accessories in the console was kept to an essential minimum as it was thought more prudent to concentrate all available funds on pipework. With the present multiplex coupling system (the first of its kind in North America), the number and scope of accessories on the movable console was increased to afford the organist the ultimate in control of the instrument.
Ancient pipes in the main organ are the 8' Bourdon rank in Swell I, from the 1874 Roosevelt, and the 8' Spitzflote and Flute-Celeste, from the 1911 E. M. Skinner. In the Solo division are twelve wooden pipes from the E. M. Skinner Ophicleide. Also in the Solo division are three ranks from a previous instrument other than Epiphany’s former organs. The Tuba, French Horn, and English Horn were part of the large E. M. Skinner organ in the Beacon Hill residence of the late Mr. & Mrs. Edwin Farnham Greene. Virgil Fox often played the Greenes’ fine instrument on his visits to Boston.
The manuals are of solid 8 cut English ivory: the interior of the console is American Walnut while the exterior is of oak. There are 99 drawknobs, 107 pistons, toe studs & toe pedals, and 31 tilting tablets. There are currently 64 ranks, 62 stops and 3,467 pipes.
The three most recent music directors at Epiphany all have connections to the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. James Buonamani succeeded Charles Callahan in ????, and served as Epiphany’s Organist and Choirmaster until his move to St. James Episcopal Church, Wiltshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. Both he and his successor Eric Plutz earned degrees in Organ Performance at Eastman. Mr. Plutz spent nine years as Organist and Choirmaster at Epiphany before his appointment as University Organist at Princeton University. Christian M. Clough, a graduate of the University of Rochester and organ student at Eastman, was appointed Director of Music Ministries in October 2005.
Pianos
Epiphany owns three pianos, the pride and joy of which is the nine-foot Steinway “D” concert grand, given to the church in 1984 in memory of Paul Shinkman, a long-time parishioner and vestry member. It rivals the church’s pipe organ for its expressive qualities and has been described by area performers as one of the finest pianos in the Washington region. It is featured frequently on the church’s Tuesday Concert Series, in liturgies and in concerts by other ensembles which perform at Epiphany.
The second piano is a 1916 Steinway 5’7” baby grand, located in the second-floor Music Room. The church also owns a spinet for use in the first-floor meeting rooms.
Tower Chime
The original tower of Epiphany Church, built in 1857, contained a single bell. During the Civil War, it was removed and melted down for its metal. Our tower remained “bell-less” until 1922 when the current tower replaced the original as a memorial to seventh rector, Randolph Harrison McKim, who served here for 32 years. In addition to the tower itself, a chime of bells was placed within as a tribute to Dr. McKim. The bells, the first true set of church bells in the city of Washington, were a gift of Isabel Freeman and Margaret Freeman Buckingham, long-time parishioners and supporters of this church. At the time, they were one of the finest sets of bells in the nation, capable of playing most tunes. Before downtown Washington’s commercial development in the 20th century, with the wind in the right direction, the biggest bell could be heard five miles away.
Epiphany’s bells are referred to as a chime. There are three designations of bell groupings, usually having to do with the number of bells. A peal of bells is generally comprised of two to eight bells with the pealing sound being derived from an ever-changing pattern as the bells ring together or singularly. A chime of bells contains from nine to 22 bells, usually arranged in a diatonic scale, similar to the black and white keys on a piano. Epiphany’s chime contains 15 bells. The number and specific pitches of the bells were chosen so that tunes such as “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Silent Night” could be played. A set of 23 or more bells is referred to as a carillon and is tuned to a chromatic scale.
Our chime of bells was made by Meneely & Company of Watervliet, New York. The bells were cast in the traditional method, which involves pouring molten bellmetal (a bronze alloy consisting of 78% copper and 22% tin) into a specially-crafted mould. The Meneely Bell Foundry was one of the finest bell makers in America at the time. The company made about 65,000 bells over a 126-year period before finally closing in 1952. The smallest of our 15 bells weighs 225 pounds and the largest, 4,300 pounds. Other than the name of the foundry, the largest bell is the only one with an inscription. It reads, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth Peace, Good Will Toward Men.”
Epiphany’s chime first rang on 20 May 1922. The official dedication took place on 3 November 1922 with a large congregation present, the Bishop of Washington, the Rt. Rev. Alfred Harding, offering the dedicatory sentences. The first official usage came in August 1923, when the bells tolled for the death of President Warren G. Harding. Beginning with Calvin Coolidge’s inauguration in 1925, the bells have rung for every presidential inauguration to date. Within a year of being installed, the bells had become the voice of the nation. In August 1923, they somberly tolled upon the death of President Warren G. Harding. Several decades later they would joyfully ring to mark the end of World War II.
The chime plays frequently to note momentous occasions in the life of the City and Nation, including Presidential inaugurations, Independence Day and such sad events as the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. The bells have been rung for the inauguration of every president from Calvin Coolidge onward. After President Truman’s inauguration in 1949, a recording of the bells was featured on national radio. The same was true for President Eisenhower’s inaugurations in 1953 and 1957. Following President Nixon’s inaugural address in 1973, a recording of the bells was heard on radio and television. For these special events, Epiphany chimers have often tried to include favorite musical selections of the newly elected chief executive and vice president. In the 1990s, a digital playing mechanism was installed, allowing for melodies and medleys to be programmed and scheduled to play at any time. Today, the bells ring on a regular basis chiming the quarter hour as well as playing hymns on Sunday mornings and weekdays at noon.
